CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – It took a few quarters to catch up, but the Cleveland Cavaliers found a way when it mattered most Sunday night.
Aided by another strong fourth quarter defensive performance and a third straight 40-point effort from Donovan Mitchell, the Cavs clinched home floor advantage for the first round of the NBA playoffs with a 115-105 win over the Indiana Pacers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Here’s a look Beyond the Box Score from their 49th win of the season.
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1. Whatever switch the Cavs have, they flipped it at the right time Sunday night. “We picked our spot and just locked in,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Again, we know what we're capable of. My quest is for the consistency of it all, but again, the guys know they have a place they can go when they need to. And we did that tonight and the fourth.”
2. This one featured 14 lead changes and 10 ties. “It was definitely a grind,” Darius Garland said. “I think we were a little bit tight in the first half, but we just figured out, got our second wind in second and picked it up defensively. The intensity picked up on both ends of the floor and just pulled away.”
3. The Pacers young guns ran the Cavs up and down the floor all night, and it worked for the first 36 minutes. “I thought it took us a minute to get our feet wet and kind of get adjusted to it where they make you pay early in the clock and they play with a ton of force,” Bickerstaff said. “So shots go up, miss or make, and we got guys who penetrate and attack the rim. So the floor for us is already flat and then they get out quickly so they were putting a ton of pressure on [us] from that standpoint, but I thought as the game went along, we did a really good job of adjusting to that and slowing 'em down.”
4. Sunday night’s game marked the fifth time the Cavs allowed 18 or fewer points this season in the final 12 minutes. “We know it's winning time when that fourth comes around,” Garland said. “We only have 12 minutes to finish the game, and we want to finish hard in a competitive fashion. That's what we try to do every night.”
5. Mitchell likely won’t win many NBA MVP but there’s no question he’s been the Cavs MVP this season. He was sensational again Sunday night. His 12th 40-point game of the season gives him the most 40-point games in a single season in Cavaliers history. “That's what Don does. He's elite, All-NBA player, an MVP candidate,” Garland said. “What else can you ask for from a guy like that? And he wants to win.” He is also the first player in Cavaliers history to record three consecutive 40-point games. “He's been great all season,” Evan Mobley said. “I mean 12 40-point games is crazy. I think they said three back-to-back or something. That's crazy too. Yeah, he just comes to work every day, has a great attitude about it.”
6. Jarrett Allen returned from a groin injury that kept him off the floor the previous two games and his presence was felt beyond the 15 points, seven rebounds and steal. “You saw how impactful he can be on both sides of the ball, how he protects the rim, how he protects the paint,” Bickerstaff said. “I thought he was really good on both sides of the boards doing this team coming off the game where they had 20 offensive rebounds. We knew we were going to have to do the job on the boards. I thought he did a really good job of it.” The Cavs outscored the Pacers in the paint 68-42 which ties the fourth most points in the paint for Cleveland this season. “Jarrett coming back was huge,” Mitchell said.
7. Mobley shot seven of 17 Sunday night but he was dominating. “That says a lot about him and his growth,” Mitchell said, “because there's going to be nights where the shot just isn't falling or it's not falling at the rate that it’s typically has been for him and he’s playing 40 a night and he’s getting there and continues to play and that's big time for us.” Mobley’s final numbers of 14 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots don’t do the effort justice. “I feel like I do a lot of little things like contesting shots or stuff like that that don't necessarily go on sheets, but I'm affecting the game in a positive manner, so I feel that,” Mobley said. It was Mobley’s 24th double-double of the season.
8. Garland chipped in 20 points, handed out six assists along with three rebounds and two steals in 39 minutes but it’s his leadership that continues to impress his teammates. “I think that’s what stands out, he commands that attention when he speaks, people listen,” Mitchell said. “And that says a lot about a guy who's in his fourth year and obviously this is his second real winning season. And to have the level of maturity throughout the process is huge and continue to get better as well on the floor.”
9. Dean Wade started in place of Isaac Okoro. “Trying to strike a balance with our starting group and our bench. Trying to make sure that there is a safety net as we work through the Isaac situation,” Bickerstaff said. “Having somebody that's getting minutes in comfortable in that spot and again, trying to put size on the floor so that we can improve defensively.” He finished with five points, five rebounds and an assist in 27 minutes.
10. The one negative – outside of Caris Levert’s 15 points – continues to be the bench, which was outscored by Indiana 41-21. The challenge for Bickerstaff will be to find someway, somehow additional production from that group come playoff time.
11. Okoro remains sidelined with left knee soreness and the hope is the rest will pay off. “We need to get him back to a place better than he was,” Bickerstaff said. “If Isaac doesn't play, it's because he's in real discomfort, and so we got to make sure we're taking the steps to get him to a place of comfort and safety and that's more important.” After the game Bickerstaff was noncommittal about Okoro’s availability for the playoffs. “I don't have an answer for you right now to be honest with you,” Bickerstaff said. “We are trying to progress him, but we'll see what happens and we've always got to again what's right by him.”
12. There’s one week – three games – left now for the Cavs before they get a few days off leading up to the opening round of the playoffs. Bickerstaff doesn’t want to see drop off from his team. “Guys just have to be in competition mode,” Bickerstaff said. “It's that week off. It's an interesting dynamic of how much full contact you have, how much you save, how competitive your practices become because you're trying to avoid certain things. So I think this is a great time for us to just make sure we stay in competition mode, and again, understand that the job isn't done. You play 82 games for a reason and we need to focus on finishing out the complete 82.”